Baghdad – Tamara Emad
Severe coughing accompanied by sharp gasps, and trembling hands quickly trying to pull out an inhaler for an oxygen dose to save the lungs from suffocation.
This scene is not unusual in the Second Mahdiya neighborhood, located near the Al-Dora power station, but what’s unusual here is that the inhaler carrier is a child no more than seven years old.
Here, respiratory diseases do not differentiate between old and young; the polluted air resulting from emissions from the oil refinery and power station adjacent to residential areas has seeped into all homes, including that of little Reem Mohammed, who suffers from breathing difficulties that hinder her from living a normal life.
Reem’s mother says: “I fear for my daughter’s health. She needs first aid when she has an asthma attack, and when she doesn’t respond to the inhaler treatment, we take her to Yarmouk Hospital to receive treatment and oxygen.”
A History of Pollution
The Al-Dora refinery was established in 1953. It is located about 15 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. The refinery is managed by the Central Refineries Company, owned by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.
About 10 kilometers from the Al-Dora refinery is the Al-Dora power station; a thermal station established in 1976, managed by the National Electricity Network of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.
The refinery works on refining crude oil into various petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and fuel oil, while the power station generates electricity by burning natural gas or liquid fuel.
A large amount of pollutants that affect air quality in the surrounding areas is emitted from these two projects. According to the environmental reality report issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Environment in 2017, the Jadriya area surrounding the projects suffers from high levels of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide.
Satellite images indicate an increase in residential gatherings in the area surrounding the refinery in the last ten years.
In 2014, the Parliamentary Health and Environment Committee called for relocating the two projects due to the rise in pollutants in populated areas.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Oil, Asim Jihad, responded to the demands to relocate the projects in “Al-Mada” newspaper by saying that “the ministry adhered to environmental standards and introduced additional purification units to reduce the pollution resulting from the refinery’s work.”
Increasing Pollution Volume
Despite the assurances of the Ministry of Oil spokesman, the geographical survey conducted by the investigator showed that the refinery and power station burned dense gases during the last ten years.
Maps from the skythruth website show associated gas flaring for oil extraction at a rate of 0.394 billion cubic meters between 2012 and 2022.
Iraq burns more than 16 billion cubic meters (BCM) of associated gas annually, making it the second-largest gas-flaring country in the world.
Images collected from social media, matched with the geographical location of the refinery and station, show the continuation of fires indicating gas burning, and the growing rise of smoke from the refinery.
“Work Ruined My Health”
Ammar Al-Yasiri, 40, works at the Al-Dora power station as a truck driver. After years of work, he was struck by severe coughing, prompting him to visit a doctor who diagnosed him with chronic bronchitis and asked him to undergo long-term treatment.
Al-Yasiri says: “I feel this job has ruined my health. I see fire and sparks coming out of the generators, and at the same time, I feel pain in my chest and back, and I suffer from chronic coughing. The doctor told me I need to stay away from the pollution I’m exposed to every day, which is the cause of my health symptoms. I know my illness is chronic, and I don’t expect to recover.”
A scientific study on the impact of environmental pollutants in the area surrounding the Al-Dora refinery found that residents of the area suffer from changes in red and white blood cell indicators and standards; for reasons that may be due to environmental pollution in the area.
The study, published by the Environment and Water Department at the merged Ministry of Science and Technology, collected blood samples from some residents of the residential complex belonging to the refinery.
The blood test showed a 52 percent decrease in red blood cell count, and a 44 percent increase in the differential white blood cell count for monocytes and eosinophils, and 48 percent for node cells for both exposed genders.
Dr. Omar Yassin, a pulmonary consultant at Yarmouk Teaching Hospital, says: “We are witnessing a significant increase in the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases, especially in winter. Most of these patients live in polluted areas near the refinery and Al-Dora power station. We suffer from a lack of resources, medicines, and equipment to treat these patients. Most patients are young, children and youth, and this is a dangerous indicator. We need a radical solution to this problem, not just continuous promises with increasing numbers of patients.”
Relocation Rulings on Paper
In 2021, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights announced the referral of a file of health violations at the Al-Dora refinery to the Public Prosecution, and the file included many violations that negatively reflect on the environment.
The former member of the Parliamentary Health and Environment Committee, Abdul Hussein Al-Mousawi, demanded in press statements the implementation of previous judicial decisions calling for the relocation of the Al-Dora refinery from its current location; due to the great harm it causes to the country’s environmental and health system.
Al-Mousawi added: “The production capacity provided by the refinery for petroleum products and electricity generation is not so large that we cannot put the issue of its relocation on the dialogue table,” pointing out that: “International and regional technical and environmental regulations prevent the establishment of refineries within residential gatherings.”
Article 61 of the Environment Protection and Improvement Law No. (27) of 2009 prohibits the emission of smoke, gases, vapors, or particles resulting from production processes or fuel burning into the air except after conducting the necessary treatments to ensure their compliance with national environmental legislation.
Article Six of the law also stipulated not to use heavy oil and other heavy petroleum products and crude oil in residential areas.
Article Seven specified that the site should not be less than 5,000 meters from the boundaries of the nearest residential area.
This contradicts what we observed that the station is adjacent to residential areas.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Oil responded to this by saying that the establishment of the refinery and station predates the growth of residential gatherings. However, he did not previously comment on parliamentary decisions regarding the relocation of the refinery and station.
Shocking Numbers
Despite the laws imposed by Iraq to combat pollution, pollution measurement indicators point to high rates of air pollution in the capital, Baghdad.
According to the report published by the Air Pollution Index IQAir, “Iraq came in second place as one of the most polluted countries in the world, where air quality in Iraq deteriorated in 2022, recording PM2.5 particles suspended in it at 80.1 micrograms per cubic meter, after it was 49.7 micrograms in 2021.”
Baghdad topped the list of the most air-polluted cities in Iraq, and the index classified its air as “unhealthy.”
Air quality is an indicator that expresses what mixes with the air of gases or polluting particles; such as: sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), particles (PM), and lead (Pb).
Dr. Zainab Hassan, a researcher at the Environmental Research Center at the University of Technology in Baghdad, says: “We have conducted many studies on air quality in Baghdad, especially in the areas surrounding the refinery and Al-Dora power station. We found that these areas are exposed to high levels of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead.”
She adds that these pollutants spread in the air due to wind, heat, and atmospheric pressure, and reach the residential areas adjacent to the Al-Dora refinery and power station, such as Al-Mahdiya neighborhood, Assyrian neighborhood, Teachers’ neighborhood, and Al-Dora area. These areas have become fully populated, and new residential neighborhoods have been created, in addition to the presence of other neighborhoods under construction.
These pollutants cause various respiratory diseases, according to Dr. Ghaith Hamid, a specialist in internal and respiratory diseases at the Blue Medical Specialty Center, who says: “Respiratory diseases are a group of diseases that affect the nose, throat, bronchi, and lungs. Some forms of these diseases are: bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma (chest crisis), tuberculosis, and lung cancer.
He adds that respiratory diseases cause annoying symptoms for those affected, such as: coughing, difficulty breathing, chest congestion, wheezing, nosebleeds, headaches, and fever. Complications of these diseases lead to death in advanced cases.
According to a report documenting the health situation in Iraq for the period between October 2018 and April 2019, the percentage of patients with respiratory diseases out of the total patients in hospitals and centers throughout Iraq reaches 51 percent in 2019.
Respiratory diseases are also the main reason for visiting emergency wards throughout Iraq. They are the second cause of hospitalization according to statistics from the Iraqi Ministry of Health.
Sarah Jabr, 35, who lives in the Al-Jamiya area located near the Al-Dora refinery with her husband and only son, suffers from lung cancer in its early stages and is undergoing radiotherapy sessions.
Jabr says: “I have been living in this neighborhood since my marriage 9 years ago, and I prefer it to other neighborhoods, but the air here is very bad. We are constantly exposed to dust and fog, and I smell a foul odor they say comes from the refinery adjacent to the neighborhood and the Al-Dora power station. I was diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago, and I can’t leave the house except when necessary. We use an air purifier inside the house, and I hope to recover and that the government will pay attention to our suffering.”
Qutaiba Kazem, director of the Environmental Observatory in Iraq, says they have been following with concern the deterioration of air due to polluting sources for years, especially the refinery and Al-Dora power station, calling on responsible authorities to take immediate measures to reduce this pollution. He suggests some possible solutions, such as: applying strict standards to control emissions from these two projects, using clean and efficient technologies to operate them, and stopping land clearing in the surrounding areas. And that the health and lives of Baghdad residents should be protected from the danger of pollution.
Meanwhile, Asim Jihad, the spokesman for the Ministry of Oil, responds to what we revealed by saying that the ministry is keen on its commitment to protecting the environment and public health. He added: “We are aware that there are concerns about air pollution in Baghdad, and we are working on taking measures to address these concerns according to the available capabilities.”
He did not comment on the high rate of respiratory diseases in the areas surrounding the Al-Dora refinery.
Between the Ministry of Oil’s denial of causing environmental pollution in the Al-Dora area, and the Ministry of Environment’s criticism of the pollution emitted by the Al-Dora refinery and its power station, gases continue to mix with the air in the area, and Sarah’s condition continues to deteriorate, while Reem’s hands remain clutching the inhaler.